Minister of Education Martin Polaschek (ÖVP) wants to take action against imbalances in the training of doctors and strives for a European solution. Austria offers a disproportionate number of study places, he said on Friday on the sidelines of an informal meeting of EU education ministers in Brussels. The minister proposes minimum numbers of study places per country. States that do not offer enough places would then have to financially support others.
Another possibility would be to reintroduce the so-called country of origin principle. “This system existed before,” says Polaschek. “Before Austria joined the European Union, German students could only study in Austria if they could prove that they had a place to study in Germany.” However, unilaterally introducing such a scheme is currently not possible under European law.
The same applies to the current quota: 95 percent of medical study places for EU citizens, 75 percent for people with an Austrian school diploma. These were negotiated with the Commission in the context of a lengthy procedure and could not be increased unilaterally by Austria.
Quotas are also conceivable in other fields
The minister can also imagine EU regulation in areas other than human medicine, such as dentistry or veterinary medicine. But he “does not want a general arrangement”. ‘We have some areas where – in many countries – we have a great need for qualified people.’ In view of countries that offer fewer study places here, it is therefore “only fair that these training costs, which naturally arise, including those borne by such countries, will also be supported to a certain extent,” said Polaschek.
ÖVP Secretary General: Doctors are being “absorbed” from abroad
Approval for Polaschek’s initiative comes from the ÖVP. Secretary General Christian Stocker also calls for “mandatory professional practice for trained doctors in Austria”. The Austrian Medical Association also welcomes the proposal. “We train more than enough doctors in Austria for our own needs,” said chairman Johannes Steinhart. “But especially in Germany, where far too few doctors are trained, graduates are ‘sucked away’.”
Source: Krone
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